Slytherins' Mudblood
by alange1002
Summary: Astra Dursley is the daughter of Vernon and Petunia Dursley. When she is eight years old, she discovers, that she has magical powers, like her cousin Harry. But when she goes to Hogwarts, she realizes that being a mudblood in the magical society isn't easy. And she also inherits a dangerous secret, because nothing is like it seems.
1. Chapter 1

23th January 1980

The Privet Drive was in complete silence. The sun had set, the streetlamps were shining and there was peace. From the outside, nobody could see that a boy was born today behind the inconspicuous façade of Privet Drive 4. The mother, Petunia Dursley, had insisted on having a home birth. After all, the doctors were all mountebanks, and in the end someone had mixed up their little angel. The boy had been born after a night of long labor pains in the late morning, and so it happened that the midwife was already gone. Child and mother were fine and the father had already calmed himself down with a good scoth. Family life was perfect.

A soft pop was heard, so quiet that it could have been the falling of a piece of furniture in the neighbor-house. Then a man appeared in the street, apparently not belonging to this world. He had long black hair falling over his face, a pale skin and deep, dark eyes. What was really unusual about him was his clothes. Completely in black and with a long dark cloak, which billowed, although no wind blew at all. Carefully, the man looked around, then another pop was heard.

Next to the man appeared a young woman who did not look quite so unusual. She wore normal clothes, had long red hair, and piercing green eyes. In her arms she held a small bundle that moved imperceptibly.

The woman looked around frantically too, but when she realized that there was no one but the man, she visibly relaxed.

"Is this the right place?", The man wanted to know. His oily voice sounded strange and disturbing in the silence.

"I think so," the woman muttered, looking around uncertainly. Then she headed for Privet Drive Number 4.

The man quickly followed her through the neat front yard to the front door. But just as the woman was about to raise her hand to knock on the door, he held her back.

"Lily, wait! Are you really sure you want to do this? We do not know what we ask them to do. "

"We have no choice!", The woman replied urgently, then she knocked firmly against the hard wood.

It tokk a moment until the door was opened, then a tired Vernon Dursley steps into the hallway.

"What du you want? We don't talk with salesmen", He asked, tired and confused, who still bothered him at this time.

"Good evening Vernon. Can we come in? "The woman asked. She waited for no answer but quickly pushed past the fat man in the hallway. The black-clad man followed her immediately.

Petunia was still in the living room nursing her little boy, and she looked up in surprise as the three persons entered the small and comfortable room.

"Lily!" She exclaimed, startled. "What are you doing here?" Then her eyes fell on the bundle in her younger sister's arms. "And what the hell is that."

"Hello, Sister," the red-haired woman replied the cool greeting, hugging the bundle a little harder when it started making strange whining noises.

"What do you want here. If you need my help for any of your stupid magic things, then ... "

But Petunia could not explain what she was going to do. The red-haired woman threw a look of help to her companion, who understood the hint. Immediately he raised his wand and pointed it at Petuina.

"_Obliviate_!" He hissed.

Petunia froze for a moment, when her memories from the last day were changed. Vernon took a second to react, which was used by the woman to change his memories as well.

"Lily, what are you doing here? And who's the man? ", Petunia wanted to know again, this time in a much calmer voice.

"Don't you remember?" The redhead asked, now in a friendly voice.

"I came to visit you. To congratulate you to the birth of your children. "

As she did so, she put the bundle she had just held in her arms into Vernon's hands, who looked at it like a dangerous object.

"Our children?" He asked, stammering.

"Yes. Your twins. Your son Dudley and your daughter Astra. They are both beautiful indeed. "

Out of the corner of her eye, the redhead noticed her companion manipulating the appropriate memories to her words in the minds of the Muggle. They would really believe that the little girl she'd just given to Vernon was her daughter. She was by far not as good at Legilimens as he was , so it was important that he came along.

"But why didn't you say so? Just look what I have on! "Petunia exclaimed, slowly gathering herself.

The redhead had to grin. Her sister was quickly herself again.

"You gave birth to two children today, it does not matter what you look like," she averted with a hard-humored smile.

"Still, I have to change now. And then we talk. It's been forever since we last saw each other. Nice of you, by the way, that you came without your failure of a husband. Who is your companion? "

"NO!", The redhead immediately contradicted, now with a trace of hectic in her voice. She did not seem to want to stay in this house any longer than necessary. A little quieter she added:

"We really do not want to make any trouble. We just came here to congratulate you and wish you all the best. You certainly had a busy day. We also want to leave immediately. "

With that, the redhead reached for the hem of her companion's coat to pull him out of the living room. While the bewildered Vernon and Petunia remained in the living room, the other two left the house.

They walked a few steps through the night to get away from the house. The man did not miss the tears running down the woman's face. She tried to stifle her, but the sniffing was audible despite their loud steps. The man stopped, held the woman and pulled her into arms, whereupon she buried her face in his cloak.

"I know it hurts. But we both know it's best for her, "he whispered to her.

"I'm aware. And it was my decision too. And yet ... Now that the time has come ... " The woman's voice failed as she was seized by a howling spasm again. The man waited quietly and tried to comfort her, lovingly stroking her red hair again and again.

"You should go back to James. He's probably worried about you. ", He finally said, when the woman had calmed down again.

She nodded and wiped the last tears from the cheeks with the hem of her sweater.

"I have no idea how to explain it to him," she said, with a tired smile on her lips.

"You can try it with the truth."

"No," immediately the woman shook her head determined. "You know James. Of course I love him. But you know how he is in this matter. If he knew she existed ... It would destroy us all. He's like Dumbledore in that aspect. He does not take prisoners. "

"Then we agree?" The man asked. "Nobody hears a word from us?"

"On both sides," the woman confirmed. "She should live a happy life as a Muggle girl. And nobody will look for her here. "

"Still, you'll keep an eye on her, right? That's why we bring her to your family, "the man suggested.

"Of course.", The woman assured. "I'll make sure nothing happens to her. And when the time is right, I'll tell her the truth. " She lowered her gaze to the floor and the man imagined that he could see tears glistening in her eyes again. But this time she could hold them back. "Do you want to receive news from me? How she is? "She asked in a trembling voice.

The man hesitated for a moment. But he had to think of the little black-haired girl with dark eyes, looking so much older than she actually was.

"Yes. I would like to hear from time to time how she is doing. But we have to do that secretly. "

"Then you go back to him?" All at once, hardness was heard in the woman's voice.

"I have no choice, Lily."

"We always have a choice!" She insisted, glaring at him dangerously. But she could not really be mad at him, not after what they had gone through together. "Then we'll be back on different sides," she whispered.

"Hey," the man tried to cheer her up and pulled her chin up to him. "It will not last forever. At some point the war is over. And that's how long we both have to survive. "

"Good luck then. Farewell. ", She breathed to him.

"Farewell," he replied softly, kissing her on the forehead one last time.

Another pop was heard, then the two had disappeared in different directions.


	2. Chapter 2

A girl behind a mask

Albus Dumbledore walked through the corridors of a small school in the suburbs of London, beeing fully aware that those who met him in the hallway looked at him in astonishment. But it did not bother him, on the contrary, it almost amused him. Since he was headmaster of Hogwarts, he did not come out of the castle too often. Mostly his teachers had to take care of underage-magic-cases, he simply did not have the time. Not every time an angry child accidentally shattered a window, he could see what it was all about. But when he had read the name of this case, he had no choice.

Astra Dursley sat at a low school desk in the empty classroom he entered. Silently Dumbledore closed the door behind him and studied the girl from top to bottom. She was just eight years old, until she came to Hogwarts, it took a while yet. Still, she seemed older, perhaps because of the calm look in her eyes.

"So you are Astra.", He greeted her and sat down on a tiny chair opposite to her.

"Who are you?" The girl replied, her eyes completely blank.

"My name is Professor Dumbledore," he introduced himself.

"Do you come from one of those schools for the crazy ones?"

"Why do you think so?"

"The teacher said she was going to find a specialist for me. Because I'm so hard to raise. "

"Do you think you need a specialist?" Dumbledore asked, watching the girl attentively. She reminded him of something, but he could not say what.

"No," Astra replied firmly.

"Then why do you think you have so many problems?"

Astra hesitated for a moment, seeming to consider how much she could say.

"I can do things most others can not," she explained, almost whispering.

"How exactly do you mean that?" He asked gently.

"I can move things without touching them. And things happen just because I want them. Derek once teased me in the second grade in the schoolyard and pushed me into a dirty puddle. I was so angry. Then he left the schoolyard and I just imagined something bad happening to him. At that moment, a car drove by and broke him five bones. Another time, Frederick stole my books from me. The next morning, his dog was found dead in his garden. If my things are broken, I can heal them again, if someone annoys me, bad things happen to them. "

Dumbledore was shocked by the girl's stories. She said it all without emotion, as if she did not care about all the cruel deeds. And it almost sounded like she could control the whole thing. Most young wizards only made magic when they were upset or angry.

"Can you show me?" He asked cautiously.

Astra thought for a moment, then let her eyes wander around the room. Then they stopped at the ugly light brown curtains that stained the windows. Concentrated, she frowned and pressed her lips together. The next second, the curtains went up in flames. For a second, Dumbledore believed he saw triumph in the girl's eyes. Her face relaxed again and the curtains went out, they looked exactly like before. Complacent, Astra turned back to the old man.

"Am I a witch?" She asked, and for the first time, Dumbledore felt the emotion in her voice.

"Yes, you are," he finally said after a second.

"And what does that mean?"

"It does not mean anything yet. But in a few years you will receive a letter from a school for witches and wizards. You are still too young, but then you will learn how to control those powers. "

In the girl's eyes, Albus could see that she was disappointed. She seemed to want to start learning immediately. But she had control over herself so far that she did not say anything, just nodded.

"But to make it that way, you have to get yourself together. You're not allowed to show your magic in public anymore, do you understand that? "Albus continued urgently.

Again the girl nodded. It did not seem as if she wanted to say anything else, so he got up from the chair and went back to the door. But just as he was about to open it, Astra called him back again.

"Professor Dumbledore?"

The man stopped in his motion and gave her a questioning look. The girl got herself together and also rose from the chair.

"I can also feel when other kids have special abilities," she said. "Is that normal for a witch too?"

"No, that's really unusual!" He confessed.

A winning smile appeared on the bright face, but it did not look really happy. Rather satisfied.

Dumbledore left school and walked for a while before apparating back at a remote spot. The little girl did not go out of his mind. He remembered the night he'd brought Harry to the Dursleys. She had been standing at window of the top watching him, with the dark eyes that seemed so much older than she actually was. He would never have thought that a Dursley child, Harry's cousin, would also develop magical abilities. And then even so strong. Besides, she had nothing in common with the Petunia and the Vernon he knew except the surname. Instead, she reminded him of someone else he could not quite name.


	3. Chapter 3

**Presents and snakes**

Astra Dursley stood in front of the mirror in her room and examined herself critically. Everyone said she looked older than eleven, which was probably due to her expressionless face and still eyes. But even without it, she had an extremely unusual apperance. One one hand, she was very tall, towering over her cousin Harry by several centimeters and had almost the size of her beefy twin brother Dudley. Then there was her long hair, which came out of her head with jet black roots and then grew lighter and brighter until she was almost white at the tips. Her mother Petunia had tried to color it uniformly black a few times, but with moderate success. Her skin was very pale, so that her veins shimmered blue through her skin at some places, she had full red lips, a striking face with high cheekbones. She stood out everywhere with this look, and maybe she could have called herself pretty. But for that she would have had to think about her apperance. For her it was just a fact. She had resigned herself to being stared at on the street and that people would back away from fear when she angrily narrowed her eyes to small slits.

But today Astra had even put a little effort into her looks, because today was her 11th birthday and she wanted to go to the zoo with her family. One last time she straightened the hair that fell loose over her back, then went down the stairs to the kitchen.

The delicious smell of bacon hit her and immediately Astra's mouth watered. Her father sat at the breakfast table reading the newspaper as he did every morning, her mother poked around on a plate with several slices of oranges. Dudley had started unpacking the mountain of gifts by the table and Harry was standing behind the stove making supplies for breakfast.

Of course Astra had noticed that her parents treated the boy badly. He only got the worn-out things from Dudley, had to do most of the housework, and almost always got into trouble. But she had to admit that her cousin was practically magnetic to trouble. Things that broke in his presence, people that behaved strangely. There was also a certain dislike that developed in her over time. But because she knew, since the latest visit of Professor Dumbledore, that his strange behavior was related to his magic, she usually tried to be nice to him. She put some food back for him, took some of his work, and sometimes bought him gifts when her parents gave her a lot of pocket money.

Since then, however, she had managed to live without uncontrolled magic. Of course, every now and then there were minor accidents like breaking glass, but then she quickly found an excuse not to get into trouble. Instead, she tried to use her powers to levitate small objects, to change the color of things. Once she had tried to hex a person, a boy in her class. But he had somehow noticed that, at least he had had a panic attack and the ambulance had to be called. Since then she has given up such experiments and her life has become a lot easier.

There is the second birthday child!" Petunia called as soon as she noticed Astra in the kitchen and jumped up to hug her daughter.

"It's okay, Mum," the girl tried to ward off and slipped out of her mother's grasp. Astra did not like much physical contact.

Nonetheless, Petunia made a point of ruffling her daughter's hair again before inspecting Harry's work on the stove.

"Congratulations, Astra," said her father when she sat down at the breakfast table and put some bacon on her plate. With a loving smile, he pushed a small, narrow package to her.

Almost impatiently, Astra tore open the paper, underneath a dark blue jewelry box came out. A fine silver chain, which had a single pendant, appeared under the cloth-covered lid. A light blue flower, an aster, for her name. Her date of birth was engraved on the back.

"Thank you very much, Mum, Dad. It is beautiful, "said Astra, even if still in a motionless voice, but immediately put the chain on.

"There are more presents by the table," Petunia called to her, then disappeared into the hallway as the phone rang.

Astra wasn't particularly interested in the other gifts, especially since Dudley would rather play with them. He did not recognize the difference between mine and yours exactly, in his opinion, what belonged to one twin belonged to the other. However, should Astra allow himself to use his beloved racing bike, her body would probably be found in the nearby forest. So she calmly watched Dudley go over the presents and started enjoying the hearty breakfast.

"Mrs. Figg can't take the boy with him today. She broke her leg, "Petunia explained as she came back into the kitchen. Obviously, that had just been the old neighbor on the phone. Astra didn't like Ms. Figg, especially since she felt strange vibrations from her, she was neither human nor witch.

While Vernon and Petunia were debating whether to leave Harry alone, Astra watched her cousin. Harry was thin, always had messy black hair, and hid his green eyes behind terrible glasses. He was often harassed by Dudley's friends at school, and even though Astra always tried to intervene, she couldn't always protect him. She would have loved to tell him about her meeting with Dumbledore, tell him there were things like magic to make his life easier. But a voice inside her called to her that she couldn't do that.

"How about we take Harry with us to the zoo? It doesn't bother me, and he shouldn't have to stay home alone. ", Astra finally suggested and turned to her parents. Petunia and Vernon weren't quite convinced, and Dudley whined loudly, but Astra had always had the ability to persuade her parents to do anything, so the four of them ended up sitting in Vernon's car on the way to the zoo.

Astra had never thought much of the zoo. In general, she rarely wanted to do the things she did with her family; most of them were boring and childish. Of course, she came along anyway, to make her parents happy, but while Dudley ran enthusiastically from one cage to the next, she trotted out listlessly as the end of the group.

They finally reached the snake house, and now Astra's attention was caught. She liked snakes, had always wanted one, but her mother Petunia prohibited any animals in the small suburban house.

Dudley immediately tried to find the largest snake while Astra strolled to the poison vipers. She knew that these were far from the biggest snakes. An adult boa constrictor could be several meters long. But they were still their favorite snakes because they were fast, agile and could kill with just one bite, unlike the stranglers. Astra watched the snakes, lost in thought, until suddenly she heard loud voices.

"Mum, dad! Look what Harry does to the snake! "Came her brother's roaring voice through the whole snake house.

Harry was also standing in front of a terrarium and seemed to have watched a snake that had now reared up and was looking at him steadily. Dudley pushed Harry aside so that he went down and started pounding the glass like a madman. Astra saw the hateful look that Harry threw at Dudley, and she didn't feel bad about it.

Suddenly the glass of the terrarium was gone and Dudley landed with a loud plum in the small pool. The snake, aware of its newfound freedom, meandered over him and then out of its enclosure. Immediately panic broke out among the people. The snake stopped short of Harry and looked at him again.

_"Thank you very much,"_ was heard hissing.

Astra was amazed. She hadn't really heard a snake talking, had she? But Harry seemed to have heard it too, stammering an answer she couldn't understand from where she was. The snake nodded again briefly, then meandered away, snapping playfully here and there for the ankles of a particularly brave visitor.

Vernon fought with the zoo director while Petunia tried to calm her Diddykins. He had gotten pale and seemed to vomit at any moment. Astra, on the other hand, watched her cousin. She knew he was a wizard, she could feel it, but that was the first time that she had seen him use magic.

"So, our attorney will contact the zoo director and make sure we sue the last penny of them," Vernon said as he came up to them.  
Astra already knew of such threats. Her father would regularly call them out if something didn't suit him. He had never won a lawsuit.

"And you!" Vernon turned to Harry and fixed him with his small, watery eyes. "I warned you, boy. I told you if only one crooked thing happened ... "

This time he left his threat in the air, but he didn't have to utter it either. The panic in Harry's eyes spoke for itself. And Astra knew that she had to help him.

"But mom, dad, Harry hasn't done anything!" She said in her usual cold voice. "He was at the far end of the room and looked at the lizards."

She looked her parents in the eyes and tried to convince them. The most important thing was that she herself had no doubts, then the others would not have any as well. Dudley opened his mouth to contradict her, but a cold look from Astra was enough to silence him, he knew what was going to happen.

Half an hour later everyone was sitting in the car and headed back home. Astra noticed that Harry was watching her incredulously all the time. Petunia and Vernon had believed her and he hadn't gotten into trouble. With a half smile, she turned to him and winked encouragingly. Soon they would both be gone from this place.


	4. Chapter 4

**Siege of the owls**

The day when everything was supposed to change came earlier than expected. A few months later, it was mid-July and summer vacation had just started, Astra woke up and saw a jet black owl sitting in front of her window, her black eyes staring at her motionlessly. Astra could feel the magic emanating from this owl and she knew she must have brought her letter to Hogwarts.

Astra quickly jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs only in her pajamas to get the mail in first. She almost ran against the open door of the closet where Harry had to sleep. She quickly snaked past it and slammed the door shut, then ran down the hall to open the front door. But there was no mail on the kitschy doormat that welcomed everyone entering.

Astra quickly closed the door again, but this time quietly, so as not to cause more trouble. Then she shuffled into the kitchen.

"Has mail arrived?" She asked as inconspicuously as possible.

But neither her mother nor her father seemed to notice anything around them. Vernon had a letter in his hand, made of thick paper and with an ancient seal. This was the letter from Hogwarts, that was certain for Astra. But judging by her parents' eyes, and Harry standing frozen in front of them, the letter wasn't meant for her. Astra's cousin should go to Hogwarts. At that moment, a world collapsed for four people in this room, only Dudley did not notice anything again, but munched his cereal into himself.

"What's going on here?" Asked Astra. Even though she was always in control, there was no way she could prevent her voice from trembling at this point.

Her mother was the first to get herself together and look up at Astra.

"It's nothing at all!" She said in an icy voice. "Take your brother and go upstairs!"

Astra knew that she shouldn't contradict her parents at that moment. She gripped Dudley's massive wrist and relentlessly dragged him up the stairs, which of course only worked since he took his third breakfast with him.

After Astra shipped Dudley to his room and set it in front of the television, she went back to her room. No sooner had she closed the door than she paused and took a deep breath.

She was disappointed, she couldn't say otherwise. Usually she always managed to control her thoughts and emotions so that nothing could surprise or hit her. But the hope of going to Hogwarts soon and finally learning how to do magic had kept her going for the past three years. Professor Dumbledore had promised her, what had happened? Did they forget her?

But the clacking against the window pulled Astra out of her thoughts. She looked up and wiped away the veil of tears that had settled in front of her eyes. When she looked out the window, she saw that the black owl which had woken up her this morning was still sitting on the windowsill, chopping her glass with her beak.

Following an inner impulse, Astra went to the window and opened it, the owl flew in and settled on her wardrobe. Only now did Astra realize that it had tied a letter around its foot. It was fat and had the same seal as the one Harry had received. With trembling hands, Astra stretched and detached the letter from the owl's leg, then broke the seal. Several sheets of paper emerged, which she unfolded and began to read the first.

"DEAR MISS DURSLEY,

WE ARE PLEASED TO TELL YOU THAT YOU WERE ACCEPTED AT THE HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDY.

Petunia and Vernon seemed to have decided not to let Harry near the letter. When Astra dared downstairs again, her cousin was locked in his closet and there was an icy silence between her parents. Astra realized that it might not be the right time to tell them about her upcoming change of school. She would wait for the right moment when their anger about Harry had eased somehow.

However, fate seemed to work against her. The next morning there were three letters on the doormat, the following five. Every time Harry tried to get his hands on one, Vernon got ahead of him. The couple's tension grew with each passing day, and finally went as far as Vernon nailed the letter slot in the door. When Astra woke up a few days later, she heard a loud shout. At first she thought the black owl that had brought her the letter had returned. She had sent it back with her reply letter. But when she went to the window to take a look at the street, her heart stopped for a second.

Hundreds of owls of all colors and sizes were sitting in the neatly tended front garden at Privet Drive 4. They didn't seem to want to fly away, but they weren't looking for anything either, they just sat there. The people walking down the street eyed the house suspiciously, then hurried to get ahead. Astra knew that her parents would go nuts. If there was anything they disliked even more than Harry, or unusual events, it was to be despised by the neighbors.

Astra quickly changed and then ran down to the kitchen.

"Have you looked into the garden yet?" She asked carefully as she sat down. Her eyes caught on her father's newspaper. Startled, she noticed the date. July 31st. Today was Harry's birthday.

"Of course we have!" Grunted Vernon with gritted teeth.

"We shouldn't worry about it," Petunia said, but her voice sounded unnaturally high. "Here, your breakfast," she added, putting a plate of eggs in front of Astra's nose. She didn't miss the fact that her portion was a lot smaller than Dudley's. Petunia always believed that women should always pay attention to their line, unlike men. However, Astra had always been quite skinny; she didn't seem to have inherited her father's genetic predisposition to obesity.

"I'm not hungry," said the girl quickly, jumping up and grabbing her plate. She carried it to the stove unobtrusively and placed him next to Harry, who was just making the second round of bacon for Dudley.

"Happy birthday," she whispered, giving him one of her rare smiles. Harry looked surprised and relieved at the same time. He carefully picked up a fork, skewered some egg and put it in his mouth.

"What's that going to be?" Came the loud voice of Vernon.

Astra turned and looked her father in the eye, ready to come up with one of her little excuses. But before she got there, there was a loud clapping. Startled, everyone spun around the room and discovered a letter that had somehow been thrown against the wall. Everyone tried to find out where it came from. But this question was answered when there was another rustle, clearly from the fireplace. The next moment another letter was shot out of the fireplace, flew over the table and landed in the sink.

Hell broke out immediately. Harry hurried in the direction of the sink to be the first to reach for the letter, but Vernon was faster. He grabbed the narrow boy and threw him back, then, with obvious disgust, fished the letter out of the foam. He was starting to turn red and Astra was afraid he would explode, but the rustling could be heard again and the next letter fluttered through the kitchen.

Then everything happend very quickly. In a few seconds more and more letters came in, each of the hundred owls must have brought at least four. Harry jumped around like he was crazy, trying to catch one of them, but he just couldn't. Vernon grabbed him roughly and dragged him outside, hissing at the rest of the family that they should pack their things, they would be leaving in five minutes.

Astra quickly ran upstairs and threw a few clothes into her backpack, the chain she had received from her parents for her birthday as well, and her Hogwarts letter. Once she had everything together, she shouldered the backpack and ran down the hall. Apparently she was the first and Vernon motioned for her to put the bag in the car while he was waiting for Petunia and Dudley. They left shortly after, and it was the worst car ride Astra had ever been through. Dudley howled almost all day because he had to leave most of his toys behind, Petunia trembled like aspen leaves. Vernon looked like he was completely out of his mind, driving on country roads, changing direction regularly and talking to himself all the time. Astra realized that she could never tell her parents that she was going to Hogwarts. Their reaction to Harry clearly showed that they couldn't handle it. They drove on until it finally got dark, and didn't stop on a small ledge in the Northern Sea until late at night. The icy water hit the rocks and made deafening noise, and it was incredibly cold. Uncle Vernon said that there would be some kind of hut here that they could sleep in.

The hut consisted of two rooms, one above and one below. They decided that Dudley would sleep with the parents upstairs, where there was a ragged bed and a sofa, while Astra agreed to sleep with Harry on the floor below. They ate some of the supplies Petunia had taken with them, then everyone retired. Harry and Astra found a place on the dusty carpet and found a few moth-eaten sheets to cover themselves with.

"Are you afraid?" Astra heard Harry ask over the sounds of the storm.

"No," she replied in a calm voice. The storm couldn't scare her. "Are you afraid?", She wanted to know then.

"No." Harry said after a short pause as well. "It's just that I don't understand why they're so upset. It's just letters. If only I knew what it says ... "

Harry sounded so miserable. Astra felt sorry for him and the need to tell him the truth. Then this whole tragedy would at least come to an end. She just opened her mouth, but then suddenly there was a loud crack at the door. Both flinched and spun around. Another crack, this time they heard wood break. Astra got up to defend herself in an emergency, but then the door flew open and a huge figure was visible in the flashlight.


	5. Chapter 5

A giant with an umbrella

For a second, everything was quiet. Harry had got up with Astra and was staring at the person that was still not moving in the door. Only the occasional rumble of thunder was heard. Then hectic steps out of the room above them and finally the creaking stairs until Petunia, Vernon and Dudley came huddled into view. Petunia and Dudley had been hiding behind Vernon who was holding a long shotgun that Astra had never seen before.

"Who are you and what do you want here?" Vernon seemed to want to ask the person angrily, but it sounded more like a gasp.

Now finally the person seemed to be moving, it entered the hut and hurled the door behind him with a loud crash. Now finally Astra pulled himself together again.

"Who the hell are you?" She repeated her father's question, albeit with a firm voice and a dangerous growl. The flash of lightning supported her words.

Astra caught a glimpse of the person in the short light. It was a man of nearly three meters. He had long black hair as thick as wire and wore a thick leather cloak that didn't exactly flatter his bulky figure.

"Really, you have manners here. A tea wouldn't be a bad thing, flying in the weather is really not pleasant. ", He grumbled and shook the water out of the collar of his coat.

However, since no one was moving, the man seemed to recognize that no one would make tea for him. He shrugged and went to the cold fireplace, pulling something out from under his coat. Only when a small flash of light shot out of it Astra recognized a pink umbrella that obviously had magical powers. A second later, a fire blazed in the fireplace.

With a groan, the man dropped to the narrow wooden bench in front of the fire and continued to dig under his coat. One by one he took out a kettle, a bag of herbs and a pack of sausages. For herself, Astra suspected that he could very well have hidden a person under it as well.

But the time the man had spent making himself comfortable seemed to have been used by Vernon to find his courage. He raised the shotgun again and bravely walked towards the man.

"Listen. I don't know who you think you are, but ... "

He couldn't get on talking. The man got up and walked calmly towards Vernon. As if it were a normal object, he put his hands around the barrel of the shotgun and bent it like butter. A panicked shot released, but went through the ceiling. Petunia, Vernon and Dudley cried out in alarm.

"Just hold the edge, Dursley!" The man spat out, then turned to Harry. "So Harry. I know it's a little late, but I have something for you here. Although it may be that I sat upon it above Chelsea at some point. "

With these words, he took out a slightly dented cardboard box to hand it to Harry. He took an uncertain step forward and took it. When he opened the lid he saw a cake with a slightly smeared sugar writing. _Happy Birthday Harry_

"I'm sorry," Harry answered carefully. "But who are you?"

"Call me Hagrid. I am the keeper of the keys and lands of Hogwarts", the man finally explained.

As soon as Astra heard the name of Hogwarts, she involuntarily sat up. Of course, she had felt the magic, albeit weak, that came from this man, but he really seemed to come straight from Hogwarts, the place of her dreams.

"Who or what is Hogwarts?" Said Harry, understandably incomprehensible.

"Well, a school, for children like you," said Hagrid as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"What does it mean: children like me?" Harry asked, placing the cake on the dusty table.

Hagrid's eyes widened in disbelief and looked across the room. At first he got stuck on Astra, but she just shrugged helplessly. What should she have told him? Then he looked on and finally got stuck on Vernon and Petunia.

"Dumbledore said you wouldn't give him the letters for Hogwarts. But that he really doesn't know anything ... "

"What should I know?" Harry called, now upset.

Hagrid turned back to the boy.

"You are a wizard, Harry."

An exploding bomb could not have had a greater impact on Astra's family. It was dead silent for a second, even the storm outside seemed to pause to hear what was said.

"That can't be possible!" Harry finally managed to say. "I am very normal!"

"Are you sure?" Hagrid asked with a half smile. "Have you never let strange things happen? If you were sad or angry? Things for which no one had an explanation? "

Harry seemed to be beginning to realize, Astra recognized it on his face. He just needed a little push.

"Do you remember when Mum cut off almost all of your hair with kitchen scissors? And the next morning everything was back to normal, wasn't it? There you did magic. ", She explained and came closer to her cousin.

"What do you know about all of this?" Harry asked, looking at Astra incredulously.

"Your cousin is also a witch. I came to make sure that you two go to Hogwarts, "Hagrid explained for her.

Astra could hear her mother gasping behind her. She would have liked to teach her in a different, less painful way, but now it was too late.

"NO!" She heard Petunia's voice behind her, and the pain that was heard brought tears to her eyes. "Please Astra! Please tell me that is not true. Please tell me that you are not one of ... them. "

Astra didn't know what to say. She just turned and gave her mother an apologetic look, tears running down her cheeks. Petunia put a hand over her mouth to stifle her scream, then slumped against the wall and sank to the floor. Her husband stood next to her and looked as if he had just seen the devil in person.

Astra knew that her parents would never look at her like they were used to.

"How long did you know it?" Harry asked, and Astra's attention turned back to him.

"I've known that I have special skills myself since I can think. And I had a clue about you too. But I wasn't sure until I was eight when Professor Dumbledore visited me at school, "Astra replied truthfully.

"Professor Dumbledore?" There was another big question mark on Harry's face.

In response, Hagrid slipped his hand back into his cloak and finally pulled out a thick letter, a Hogwarts letter. Almost devoutly, Harry reached for it, tore open the envelope, and pulled out several sheets of paper. There was a tense silence in the hut as he read it.

Astra watched her cousin intently, trying to read what he was thinking on his face. But for the first time since she knew him, Harry's mine was closed, as if he didn't seem to know what to think.

Suddenly there was a smacking sound. Astra spun around and saw her brother, who had pounced on the open cake box and was starting to shovel the buttercream in his mouth with his hands. She wanted to stop him, but this time Hagrid was faster. Before anyone could do or say anything, he grabbed his umbrella and pointed it at Dudley.

"Well, you didn't want it any other way, you little pig!" he hissed.

The next moment there was a soft bang that could have come from the thunderstorm. But Dudley cried out in alarm, then gave a strange scream and grabbed at his back. There was a small curly tail pushing through the fabric of his pajamas.

Beside her, Astra heard Harry laugh softly, but that was drowned out by Petunia's shattering cry. She ran to her son and dragged him protectively behind Vernon. He had turned dangerously red in the meantime.

"That's enough!" He finally hissed, sounding like releasing air from an overused balloon. "We have had enough of all this nonsense here, we don't want to know anything about it anymore. Fix my son, take Harry with you and disappear to never see you again! "

"It would be a pleasure!", Said Hagrid and built up in front of Vernon. Hagrid was at least twice as large and twice as wide as he, what Vernon only noticed now. "We'll leave immediately, but your daughter will come with us."

"No, she doesn't. I forbid it. "Vernon tried again, but he no longer looked particularly confident.

Hagrid turned to Astra.

"Astra?" Hagrid looked at the girl skeptically. "Do you want to stay with your parents? Lose your magic forever and live a normal life? "

Astra hesitated for a second. She loved her parents, at least she believed that that was what she felt for them. And Hagrid had just hexed her twin brother. But Hogwarts was all she had and ever dreamed of and she couldn't back out now.

"I'm coming too," she finally said quietly.

Hagrid gave her parents a superior look.

"Then let's go now," he said. He quickly began putting his stuff he had taken out earlier back in his coat, then he went to the door. Harry and Astra followed him wordlessly. Astra stopped in the door and turned to her family. They all looked lost and shocked like they had seen a ghost. She would have loved to say that she was sorry, but the words never came out of her lips. Instead, she lowered her eyes and closed the door behind her.


End file.
